Knitting-machine needle



July 5 9 1927.

J. HULL KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE V v n m l m a. 0 MW m rmT July" 5, 1927. 1,634,423

M J- H ULL I KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE Filed June 23. 1925 2 Shuts-She 2 fie. ll

Patented July 5, 1927.

1,634,423 Parent orrics.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH HULL, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM SPIERS, LIMITED, or nnrcnsrnn,

ENGLAND, A BRITISE COMPANY.

KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

Application filed June 23, 1925, Serial No.

This invention relates to needles for knitting machines and has reference to thosev of the kind comprising two parts, viz a hook part and a guard or casting element, operat- 5 ing with a relative sliding movement and actuated independently by separate cams.

According to the invention the guard or casting element is furnished with a rigid point and the hook part of the needle has upon it a swell or belly which serves as a cam upon or over which the guard element rides during the relative sliding motion between the two parts. The swell or belly on the hook part guides and lands the loop upon the guard point, and also deflects the guard point outwards from the needle stem during its relative movement so that the extremity of the rigid point assumes a desired position in relation to the point of the needle hook to subsequently allow the loop to pass from the guard point over the said hook when knocking over.

The hook part and guard element may be grooved and bevelled, or vice versa, respectively so that by engagement one with the other the two parts will be thereby assisted in maintaining; proper alignment.

Preferably the extremity of the guard point or casting element is notched, recessed or similarly formed to receive the extremity of the needle hook during knocking over. Further the swell or belly of the hook part may be grooved to receive the guard point and facilitate passage of the loop on to the latter.

In further describing the invention reference will be hereinafter made to the accompanying drawings. wherein.

Figure 1 is a side view, and FigureQ is a front edge view of a conven ient form of hook part.

Figure 3 is a side view, and

Figure 4; is aback edge vlew of a guard.

element for association with the said hook part.

Figure 5 is a side view of the complete needle with the hook part and guard element in the normal position.

Figures 6 to 8 are views illustratingthe operation of the needle.

Figure 9 shows in sectional elevation part of the needle cylinder and cam box of a cir-v cular knitting machine employing needles constructed in accordance wlth the inventlon.

39,035, and in Great Britain July 4, 1924.

Figure 10 is a plan of a detail hereinafter particularly referred to, and

Figure 11 shows a development of the cam system for operating the needle parts.

Figures 1 to 8 are drawn to an exaggerated scale.

According to the convenient example of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to'8 of the drawings, the needle includes a hook part 1 which is similar in form to a latch needle, that is to say, it has an open hook 1 at its upper end, a swell or belly 1 on the front of the stem below the hook, and a butt 1 on the stem for actuation by cams, as will be hereinafter set forth. In this case the swell or belly 1 is not slit vertically as in latch needle but has a longitudinal groove or channel 1 on the underside thereof, which extends as far as the front or most prominent part of the swell at one end and merges into the stem at the other end as shown in 75 Figures land 2. If desired the groove or channel may be continped downwards in the front edge of the stem of the hook part th oun'h this is not essential.

Associated with the hook part 1 is a guard or castin element 2 which consists ofa stem or slider of the same thickness as the stem of the hook part 1 and furnished with a butt 2 thereon for actuation by cams as will be described later herein. Towards its upper end thestem or slider is reduced in width and merges into a point 2" of tapering form and which is made shortas'convenient in order to keep it as rigid as possible. For the greater part of its length the back edge of the guard element,- i. e. the edge which has slidable contact withthe front edge of the hook part 1 is straight or substantially so in order that when it is against the stem of the hooked part its pointed extremity will be located somewhat below the front or most prominent part of the swell 1 and within the groove or channel 1 in the latter, as shown in Figure 5, in which position the loop can pass over said swell and on to the 100 point 2" ofthe element 2.

For part or the whole of its length {the back edge of the guard element is bevelled, as represented at 9., or otherwise formed to engage and thus be guided by the groove or channel 1 when the hook part and guard element are moved relatively, and to fit into the groove 01' channel, if provided in the front edge of the part 1. Towards the lower end the back. edge of the guard element is cut away as represented at 2, slightly rounded or otherwise shaped so as to normally leave a space between said: edge and the opposing edge of the hook part. The purpose of this is to allow the lower end of the guard element to swing inwards towards the hooked part when, by riding over the swell 1", the point 2* is canted or deflected outwards to the position where it covers or guards the hook. It will. be understood that the guard element is rigid throughout its entire length and when occupying the guard or casting position is disposed in a forwardly inclined or cantedp'ositi'on with its point 2 in engagement with the hook 1 and its back edge in contact with the front part of the swell 1 and the stem below said swell as represented in Figures 7 and 8. Preferably the point 2 is formed at the back with a recess or notch 32 in which the extremity of the hook 1 fits, when the guard 00- cupies' the aforesaid position, so as to facilitate the passage of the loop thereove-r when knocking over occurs.

Thus it may be said that the hook part 1 of the needle has cooperating with it a rigid guard point or element 2 which for receiving the loop thereupon occupies a position parallel to the stem of said hook part, and for the purpose of carrying the loop over the hook assumes, upon relative movement between the parts, an inclined position in front of the hook.

For operating the hooked and guard elements a cam system comprisinrr two cam tracks 3 and 4, Figures 9 and 11, 1. e. one for the hook part and one for the guard or point, are provided. The cam system shown is intended for use in a single feeder machine having a rotary needle cylinder 5 and a stationary cam box 6, for example, Figure 11, being a developed view of the inside of the cam box in the vicinity of the feeder (not shown). The arrangement is similar in a multi-feede'r machine'except in so far as it is necessary to vary the lengths of the tracks between the different feeders according to the number of. latter employed. In operation the complete movements of the two needle parts are as follows. At the commencement of the operation each needle travels with its butt 1 in the track 3 and the butt 2 in the track 4 as represented at 00, so that the needle is in a low position with the last formed loop a somewhat below the hook 1 and with the guard point approximately in the position shown in Figure 5. Travelling in the direction of the arrows 1n Figure 11, the butts of said parts approach and engage inclines 5 and 4 on the cam members 3 and 4 respectively the two parts being thereby raised together as represented at y so that the swell or belly l passes through the loop a and allows the point 2" of the guard element 2 to enter the as shown in Figure 6. The needle is new in a position to take the yarn to form a new loop. Following this the hook part 1 moves relatively to the guardelement 2 as a result of the engagement of its butt with the cammember 3 as represented at z, so that it takes the yarn and draws a new loop 7) and the extren'rity' of its hook enters the notch or recess 2 in the point 2 of the guard element thereby closing the hook as shown in Figure 7. During" said moven'ient the guard element rides over the swell or belly 1 and is canted or detiected outwardly as previously explained herein. If desired insteadof imparting the whole of the movement to the hook partfat this stage, the two parts; may move in opposite directions the hook part 1 moving down to take the yarn, and the guard element 2 moving up to close the hook. Upon the parts assuming the position in which the hook 1 is closed they are moved down together by the continued engagement of the butt 1 with the cam member 3, and the engagement of the butt 2 with'a cam member f, as represented at 2, thereby knocking over the old loop a and forming the new loop as shown in Figure 8, after which the parts are restored to the normal position shown in Figure 5 by means of the inclines 8, 4 on the cam member's 3 and 4 respectively. The needle elements new travel idly in the tracks 3 and 4:, which continue more or less horizontally round the cam box, until they again approach the feeder in the case of a single feeder machine, or until they approach the next feeder in the case of a multi-feed machine whereupon the aforesaid operation is repeated. The cam 3 may be made adjustable so as to enable the length of loop drawn by the needle to be varied according to requirements, and

the cam 1, maybe made either fixed or ad.

justable.

The guard elements may be held in contact with the hook members by spring means. For example, as shown in Figures 9 and 10 a cam member 7 may be pivoted at 8 on the top of the cam box 6, and normally projected inwards bya blade, spring 9 or equivalent, into a grooveor channel 10 formed in the needle cylinder, this member being so disposed that it is engaged by the guard element of each needle at the same time .as the latter is rising to enable the guard element to enter the loop.

When applying the invention to needles which are to be used for transferring loops the hook member may be flatten-ed at the top to allow the opposing hooks to come close together.

The needle herein described enables the cam motions to be reduced and the speed of the machine to be increased. No latch guards are necessary and there is no inter ference by latches when plating. Further the quality of the fabric is improved since there are no latches to act detrimentally on the yarn. Another advantage is that as the guard point is inclined to the needle stem at a smaller angle than is the latch of an ordinary latch needle when in the casting off or knocking over position the strain on the loop during this action is considerably reduced. The movement of the loop upon the needle stem is also considerably reduced and therefore the possibility of roughening the fabric is reduced accordingly. This is particularly advantageous when working with artificial silk yarns.

The improved needles may be employed in either circular or straight bar knitting machines, .and with or without sinkers according to requirements.

What I claim then is A knitting machine needle, comprising a hook part consisting of a stem having an open hook and a rounded swelling on the front edge of the stem below the hook, and a guard part situated entirely in front of said hook part and consisting of a shank having a rigid pointed extremity, said two parts being adapted for operation independently by cams so as to co-operate with a relative sliding movement, the guard part in one position being continuous with the front edge oi the stem below the swelling thereon which latter projects beyond the line of that part of the stem against which the guard part rests, and said guard part when assuming the operative position being deflected outwards from the stem by the swelling thereon whereby it is inclined relatively to the hook part when covering the point of the hook.

In testimony whereof I affix my signatrue.

I JOSEPH HULL. 

